# Pipe vs Cigar



## Ramer (Jan 4, 2016)

I took up the Pipe about a year and a half ago. I love that there are so many types and styles of Pipe Tobacco as well as the pipes themselves. I initially wanted a cheaper option to cigars, but found that with all the variables to Pipe Smoking, it very quickly became a new "hobby". Now I have 4 Briar Pipes and a few Cob pipes and about 10 or so different tobaccos in my humble collection. 
Spending time lurking in forums like this one, I expanded my new "hobby" to Cigars again as previously I would really only smoke 'em as I purchased 'em... Now I have a 150 count humidor with about 50 or so cigars quietly aging in it...
I smoke only outside, and have found that during the colder months I enjoy a pipe more than a cigar. The warmer months lean more towards Cigar Smoking. 
My question to you is, if you smoke cigars as well as pipes, do you also find you smoke a pipe at different times than smoking cigars? Do you like pipes vs cigars during different activities, like reading or working in the shop or yard? 
Just curious... 
Cheers


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## Cigary (Oct 19, 2007)

I do both and it's a different thing for each...it's like food...some days I want a steak while other days I want good Mexican Food. Enjoy them both....heck...I still chew tobacco...dip snuff....and it just depends on what you want to get your fix. Each is a habit...pipes and having more than a few is a good idea if you like more than 1 or 2 bowls a day...it's just a good idea to let your bowl have a rest between sessions.


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## jmcqueen (Dec 22, 2015)

yep, pipe mostly in the late fall through the end of winter, and then cigars in the spring and summer. my situation is like yours. i live in the midwest where it gets very cold, so pipe works out well b/c i, too, don't smoke in the house. i have considered setting up a "smoking lounge" in the basement with a commercial vent/fan, but i'm sure she would still get some of the "aroma" up through the floor. she likes the aroma of some of the tobacco i smoke, BUT she doesn't want it in the house. gotta respect that. even if i lived alone, i don't think i'd smoke in the house...but, at least i might set up a cigar lounge and stink-proof it....ok, i would smoke in the house if i lived alone. well...i'm gonna miss her.


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## Ramer (Jan 4, 2016)

jmcqueen said:


> . well...i'm gonna miss her.


:vs_laugh:
Thanks for that. Made me laugh out loud... really...
I have found things i can do to putter around in the garage occasionally, and can get away with smoking in there... occasionally ... I don't want to push my luck though as I still get a "look" ... if you know what i mean...


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## Zeabed (Apr 23, 2009)

I smoke in my apartment (the entire unit is my man cave), so I smoke both cigars and pipes irrespective of the time of year. The seasons change but very slightly where I live, anyway. If I waited for it to get cold to smoke a pipe I would only smoke a pipe two or three days a year.


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## hawg (Feb 26, 2010)

I enjoy the cigar for outdoor activities like fishing, summer or winter although winter is hard on the cigars. In the shop I like the pipe. In summer I like the pipe most days just sitting around. After motorcycling all day I enjoy the cigar.


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## droy1958 (Sep 3, 2014)

I smoke whatever, whenever, but I mostly stay in my office/room, if not outside....


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## Ramer (Jan 4, 2016)

Zeabed said:


> I smoke in my apartment (the entire unit is my man cave), so I smoke both cigars and pipes irrespective of the time of year. The seasons change but very slightly where I live, anyway. If I waited for it to get cold to smoke a pipe I would only smoke a pipe two or three days a year.


Sweet.... I wanna man cave... :wink2:


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## Ramer (Jan 4, 2016)

hawg said:


> I enjoy the cigar for outdoor activities like fishing, summer or winter although winter is hard on the cigars. In the shop I like the pipe. In summer I like the pipe most days just sitting around. After motorcycling all day I enjoy the cigar.


Ah, yes! Nothing quite like a day fishing with a cold beer and a good stogie! Rain or Shine, a bad day of fishing is better than a good day at work, I always say!


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## Bird-Dog (Oct 16, 2009)

Interesting observations. I've been thinking about this very subject lately. Mainly because the cigar forums seem a little listless, while the pipe forums seem to be getting more attention as the weather turns cold outside.

Pipes do seem to go well with winter. The Norman Rockwell-ian vision I have of it is sitting by a roaring fireplace while the snow piles up outside, snuggled under a tartan blanket, puffing away on my briar as I reminisce about warmer days gone by. Not that any of that ever happens... we don't even get snow here most years. But, that's sort of the idealistic picture I have.

Cigars, on the other hand, evoke more Walter Mitty-ish daydreams... reeling in that record marlin while clenching a Churchill between my teeth (Hemmingway certainly did things right!)... or sitting under a shady umbrella in a sunny Paris sidewalk cafe, sipping cappuccino with a fine Havana and watching the world go by, while I wait for my secret connection to slyly deliver the dossier outlining my next mission. Yep, that's right! I'm double-0-47(RG), licensed to smoke!


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## droy1958 (Sep 3, 2014)

curmudgeonista said:


> Interesting observations. I've been thinking about this very subject lately. Mainly because the cigar forums seem a little listless, while the pipe forums seem to be getting more attention as the weather turns cold outside.
> 
> Pipes do seem to go well with winter. The Norman Rockwell-ian vision I have of it is sitting by a roaring fireplace while the snow piles up outside, snuggled under a tartan blanket, puffing away on my briar as I reminisce about warmer days gone by. Not that any of that ever happens... we don't even get snow here most years. But, that's sort of the idealistic picture I have.
> 
> Cigars, on the other hand, evoke more Walter Mitty-ish daydreams... reeling in that record marlin while clenching a Churchill between my teeth (Hemmingway certainly did things right!)... or sitting under a shady umbrella in a sunny Paris sidewalk cafe, sipping cappuccino with a fine Havana and watching the world go by, while I wait for my secret connection to slyly deliver the dossier outlining my next mission. Yep, that's right! I'm double-0-47(RG), licensed to smoke!


A fine post sir......


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## Treeleaf (Jan 15, 2016)

I was about to post and ask this same question, so thanks for asking it first! It's interesting to see how people's associations determine what they smoke and when. I do associate pipes with colder weather, but I'm in South Africa where it's fairly warm for more than half the year, so I smoke a pipe (always outside) no matter what the weather is like or I'd rarely be able to do it http://www.cigarforums.net//www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/


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## droy1958 (Sep 3, 2014)

I'm just VERY happy that I can do what I want when I want. Don't get far away from the house or the farm, so I do what I want. ^#$*( what everyone else thinks....


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## Ramer (Jan 4, 2016)

droy1958 said:


> A fine post sir......


Agreed!

Deep Thoughts...
By
curmudgeonista

:vs_cool:


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## gtechva (Mar 9, 2014)

Since my wife and myself have smoked cigarettes longer than not, and both sons have moved out, (not because of the smoke) smoking inside is no big deal. We did tell our oldest and his wife we won't smoke when our grandson is here. I usually reserve smoking cigars for when I have plenty of sitting around time. One of the good things about a pipe, is the ability to relight a bowl from last night and it still be good. Hey, if you don't finish a bowl and dump it, it not much of an investment. Some days I have a loaded pipe in the work van, and can get a few tokes between service calls. Since taking up cigars and pipes, my cigarette consumption has dropped to zero to five a day, down from a pack and a half. I also like to sniff a little snuff from time to time. Not much time required for snuff, but I don't do it in front of people, so as not to be made to be thought an illegal substance.

@droy1958 as they say, "smoke where you like, like where you smoke." Ok, no one says that, but they should.

@curmudgeonista while in Atlanta for training, I was told by an instructor, who lived local, if a snowflake makes it to the ground, the sidewalks will be rolled up, and the city will be closed indefinitely. Your post lead me to think you sir, are a wordsmith, painting a picture with a querty paintbrush.


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## Bird-Dog (Oct 16, 2009)

gtechva said:


> @*curmudgeonista* while in Atlanta for training, I was told by an instructor, who lived local, if a snowflake makes it to the ground, the sidewalks will be rolled up, and the city will be closed indefinitely.


Yep, that's the way it goes here. When we get a really good snow, I've seen people abandon their cars right in the middle of the highway like some post-apocalyptic movie.

Northerners like to talk about what lousy winter drivers Southerners are. But, we have so many transplants in ATL that I suspect the drivers they scorn are others from up north who only think they know how to drive in the snow because they've always had the roads plowed and salted for them back where they grew up.

While snow may be rare here, and ice a little less so, some of us natives handle it very well because when we have had to drive in winter storms we've had to drive ON the snow and ice, not manicured roads like they do up north. OTOH, there are plenty of bad drivers too.

Then again, there are idiot drivers everywhere you go. I used to spend a lot of time in the snow belt during the winter for work. I can't count how many SUV's I saw turned upside-down on the side of the highway because their owners thought having 4WD meant they could do 90 MPH on slick roads.


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## gcbright (Dec 1, 2012)

curmudgeonista said:


> Yep, that's the way it goes here. When we get a really good snow, I've seen people abandon their cars right in the middle of the highway like some post-apocalyptic movie.
> 
> Northerners like to talk about what lousy winter drivers Southerners are. But, we have so many transplants in ATL that I suspect the drivers they scorn are others from up north who only think they know how to drive in the snow because they've always had the roads plowed and salted for them back where they grew up.
> 
> ...


There is a big difference in driving in an area used to getting snow and driving in an area that only gets a storm every 10 years or so.

Also during the years I would work the road for the company I worked for, during snowstorms, the number of 4WD trucks and SUVs in the ditch always out numbered everything else. Some folks really believe a 4WD makes them immune to the weather.


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## Ramer (Jan 4, 2016)

Well, this post changed to an unexpected direction. Makes for interesting reading, though I must say.

Being from the Vancouver area of BC, we tend to get similar weather to Seattle, WA. Rarely get snow on the lower elevations... winter tends to be cold and wet. If we do get snow on the ground & roads, chaos seems to erupt and a high percentage of the vehicles in in the ditch also seem to be 4WD trucks and SUV's... 

Was a break in the rain today, so I took advantage of it and was able to get an hour or so on the deck with bowl of 2013 McClelland Christmas Cheer. I received about an ounce of this from someone last year, but I had not cracked the seal yet... had almost forgotten about it. A nice, interesting smoke on a cold wet day. It had a sweet & sour kind of fragrance to it mixed in with some rum & raisin notes. The smoke was nice and thick with a kind of tangy smokey barbecue flavor.


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## gtechva (Mar 9, 2014)

@Ramer glad that you brought up Christmas Cheer. One of the things that set pipe tobacco apart from cigars, for me, is the seasonal offerings. I have some Christmas/winter blends that I like, and would not consider smoking on a summer day. That's just me. Nothing comes to mind as far as cigars that cater to, or remind me of a particular time of year.

You've pulled us back on track.

I have seen the Oktoberfest cigars, but have no idea what they are like. Does anyone think of a particular cigar they consider seasonal? I'd love to hear why.


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## ras_oscar (Aug 30, 2015)

I live alone and am able to smoke wherever I choose. In the summer I choose to smoke outside. I smoked one or 2 cigars in the basement and will not repeat that experience, as the smell permeated the entire house for a week. Closed the basement air supply, put in a vent fan with a charcoal filter I rigged up. Also plugged a Fabreeze room freshener (noticibles, heavy duty) and noticed the pipe smell is gone within 12 hours. I'll be piping in the basement this winter. I'm fortunate that there is one B&M store locally that allows outside sticks, so that's where I'm taking my gars this winter.

FYI, I have a buddy (a non smoker) who purchased a home formerly owned by an elderly couple that smoked cigaretts in the house for 25 years. He painted the house, first with kilz high hide primer, then 2 coats of finish paint. 8 years later when he was ready to sell, the nicotine stains were beginning to bleeding through. The only reliable way to remove nictoine is to repalce the drywall and all the soft goods. I enjoy tobacco, but I value my property values more.


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## droy1958 (Sep 3, 2014)

gcbright said:


> There is a big difference in driving in an area used to getting snow and driving in an area that only gets a storm every 10 years or so.
> 
> Also during the years I would work the road for the company I worked for, during snowstorms, the number of 4WD trucks and SUVs in the ditch always out numbered everything else. Some folks really believe a 4WD makes them immune to the weather.


4WD can help with the GO, but not so much the WHOA....


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## Gigmaster (Jan 12, 2009)

I smoke both, but pipes much more frequently. A box of cigars lasts me several months. Every so often, I get in the mood for a cigar. No particular reason. Sometimes you want a hamburger, other times, a hotdog........


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## gantonio45 (Jan 30, 2016)

Hey there!

Good question!

Like you, I myself and very new to the hobby of pipe smoking (only about 4 months in) but have been smoking cigars for nearly ten years now. What do I prefer?

What I have found in these last couple months (especially after getting down the proper packing techniques is that pipe smoking is such a relaxing and amazing experience! I noticed immediately that the taste of pipe tobacco is very different from that of a cigar. To me, it seems where you get a very full-bodied, consistent hit off cigars, pipe tobacco has more subtle nuances where each tobacco leaf and flavor has the ability to take center stage on one's pallet.

Since taking up pipe smoking, I have noticed that my cigar smoking has cut down, and the pipe has become my go-to. I really enjoy the act of having to pack the pipe, light it evenly, and even having to tamp it down as you go. It makes it so the smoker really has to know the tobacco and what care it needs; it really forces you to take your time. This, I feel is a subtlety society is losing as the years pass on.

For me, pipes have become my go to smoke (a smoke every three days or so) where as cigars, perhaps once or twice a month.


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## Piper (Nov 30, 2008)

I wanted to revive this thread because the OP asked a question I was thinking about after answering a question on another forum. The thread is only a year old, relatively short and there is a memorable post in it by Curmudgeonista.

On the question of Pipes vs. Cigars, I realize they are complementary in a way. In no particular order here are my thoughts:

Odor: Cigars I smoke only outside because of the odor. Pipes I smoke mostly inside because the tobacco I smoke has a pleasant room note. As a result, I smoke cigars at my weekend house, where I can smoke on the deck, and pipes in my apartment.

Season: Cigars only when I can be outside, therefore rarely in the winter unless I can get to a cigar lounge. Pipes I smoke year round but less in the summer when I smoke cigars more. (Making up for not being able to smoke cigars easily in the colder months.)

Activities: Cigars I like to pay attention to. I'll read or surf the web but pause frequently to focus on the taste and aroma of the stogie. For me, cigars are more of a foreground activity. Pipes are more of a background activity, like listening to music. I focus better with a pipe, whether reading or writing or watching TV. I find they make everything more mellow.

Social: I generally smoke alone because most of my friends are "effete intellectuals!" JK. But when I can find a "real man" (I don't know any woman partakers), I generally smoke cigars. I think it's because, although I have only a few cigar smoking friends, I have zero pipe smoking friends.

Beverages: I always have a cool beverage with a cigar. During the day it's soda or maybe a beer. In the evening, it's a watered-down scotch or bourbon, rarely a glass of wine. With pipes I don't need to drink anything but I love a bowl after a cup of coffee.

Stimulation: Though I relax with both forms of tobacco. I tend to find cigars more stimulating. Pipes I find utterly relaxing.

Variety: I love trying different brands and vitolas of cigars, especially Cubans. I've tried many different types of pipe tobacco over the years, and have at least 15 good pipes, but I keep coming back to 4 or 5 pipes and 1 or 2 tobaccos.

Sorry for the long post. Rereading it has got me in the mood for a pipe, if that says anything.

I'm interested to hear how others view the two types of smoking experience.


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## Alpedhuez55 (Dec 16, 2005)

I live alone, so I can smoke whatever I want in the house. I kind of go back and forth between pipes and cigars. Right now I am on a pipe kick, though I have been craving a good cigar. so I may crack open the humidor later. Cigars do tend to be lower maintenance. Moneywise is no big deal. I have a good stock of $1-$2 a stick cigars I enjoy with some more expensive ones for company or special occasions. It is I guess mostly depending on the mood I am in.


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## Thig (May 10, 2017)

My wife has told me she doesn't care if I smoke the pipe in the house because she likes the smell of the pipe. So far I had rather sit out on the deck because it is peaceful and I work indoors all day. I am still waiting on my first cigars to arrive which she doesn't know I have ordered so that is probably another story.


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